St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced Thursday the club has signed forward David Perron to a four-year contract.

“We’re excited to have David in the fold for the next four years,” said Armstrong. “He made a great comeback by scoring 21 goals in 57 games. We’re comfortable with his health, and we’re confident that he will continue to build on his offense.”

“I love the city of St. Louis and I’m thrilled to play in front of these awesome fans for another four years,” said Perron. “We had an excellent regular season but we all feel this team has so much more to accomplish.””

Perron, 24, dressed in 57 regular season games for the Blues last season recording 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists) and 28 penalty minutes while also posting five points (one goal, four assists) and 10 penalty minutes in nine playoff games.

Though he missed the first 25 games of the 2011-12 season due to concussion symptoms, Perron finished the regular season fifth on the Blues in points and assists, second in goals, fourth in plus/minus (+19 – careeer high), tied for fourth in power play goals (5) and tied for second in game-winning goals (4 – career high).

Overall, the 6’0, 200-pound forward has appeared in five National Hockey League (NHL) seasons (2007-2012), all with the Blues, totaling 173 points including 74 goals and 99 assists as well as 188 penalty minutes in 292 games.

The Sherbrooke, Quebec native was originally drafted by the Blues in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2007 Entry Draft.

Check back to stlouisblues.com soon for more comments from Armstrong and Perron.

I think this is a solid deal. It becomes a great deal if he makes the leap and is making under 4 per in terms of AAV. His numbers in his last two season (even though injury-shortened) were really pretty good and I'm interested to see if he'll keep that going over 82 games.

"It's a risk-reward," Armstrong said. "Both sides are assuming some form of risk in this deal, I think. Obviously the risk for the team on a four-year deal was that there's potential for future injuries, but I think that's a risk with every player. Also, we were taking a risk going with a short-term deal and David staying healthy and continuing off of where he was last year and that 30-plus goal pace. He'd be in a very good spot as an unrestricted free agent.

"Quite honestly, I did have my eyes open a little bit here. Every year, we get to July 4th or 5th and say, 'Wow, did that (free-agent) market really fluctuate?' What would David Perron be worth as an unrestricted free agent in two years if he stays healthy and he continues to score goals at the clip he's scored them when healthy? I thought it was worth the risk and obviously David did also."

Perron said that Armstrong 'summed it up perfectly."

"If I'm having the season that I'm preparing myself for ... I could be leaving some money on the table, mostly for years three and four," he said. "But it's some kind of security that you have."

Considering they way Hitch called him out with two weeks to go and Army comments a couple weeks ago about how he wanted to get Oshie a deal with some length but David still needed to prove himself - I never saw this coming.

Maybe based on how ridiculous things have gotten on the free market, this deal was too sweet to pass up.

"It's a risk-reward," Armstrong said. "Both sides are assuming some form of risk in this deal, I think. Obviously the risk for the team on a four-year deal was that there's potential for future injuries, but I think that's a risk with every player. Also, we were taking a risk going with a short-term deal and David staying healthy and continuing off of where he was last year and that 30-plus goal pace. He'd be in a very good spot as an unrestricted free agent.

"Quite honestly, I did have my eyes open a little bit here. Every year, we get to July 4th or 5th and say, 'Wow, did that (free-agent) market really fluctuate?' What would David Perron be worth as an unrestricted free agent in two years if he stays healthy and he continues to score goals at the clip he's scored them when healthy? I thought it was worth the risk and obviously David did also."

I think this just became a huge deal for the Blues. If he continues even at the pace he was at with no improvement this is a bargain. If he gains on his numbers like I think he will it is an amazing deal. This also opens up packaging him for a deal for that extra D-man that we still need because a team can get him on the cheap and have him locked up for a bit. Excellent move IMO

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